A total of 2,36,464 nominations were filed against 73,887 seats in the three-tier panchayat system in Bengal till Thursday evening, the last date for the submission of papers.
Senior bureaucrats feel the figure gives a clear hint that Opposition parties could field their candidates in more seats compared to the rural polls held in 2018.
“The final figure of nominations can be compiled late this evening as the nomination filing process is on in some areas on Friday following the high court’s order. But the figure compiled till Thursday suggests that about 1.3 lakh more candidates are in the fray this year compared to 2018 polls,” said a state poll panel source.
As per figures available with the state election commission, the Trinamul filed 85,817 nominations while the BJP has filed 56,321 nominations in the three-tiers of the panchayat system. The CPM has filed 48,646 nominations and the Congress could file 17,750 nominations till Thursday evening.
Senior bureaucrats involved in the polling process said the number of Trinamul candidates is more than the total seats because many rebel candidates have filed their nominations after they were denied tickets by the party.
“But this would not be a problem for the party as the party would allot symbols to one candidate for a seat. So it can be said that the Trinamul is the only party in the state that has successfully fielded candidates in almost all the seats,” said an official.
The BJP has filed almost double the number of nominations compared to 2018 rural polls where it had fielded little over 28,000 candidates across the state. The CPM has also increased its number of candidates this year as it had fielded only 20,506 candidates in the three-tier panchayat system in 2018.
Chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, on Friday used the figures to counter the allegations that the ruling party was preventing the Opposition parties from filing nominations.
“How many nominations were filed till yesterday? It is 2.31 lakh. Trinamul is fighting alone. So it has filed 82,000 nominations. And the opposition parties altogether filed 1.5 lakh nominations. We have filed 82,000 and you have filed 1.5 lakh nominations,” said the chief minister at Namkhana in South 24 Parganas on Friday.
The chief minister also said that the Opposition parties are trying to blame the ruling party for one or two incidents.
“There is no other state other than Bengal where the panchayat poll nomination process is so peaceful. The opposition parties are trying to blame us over some incidents that took place in one or two booths,” the chief minister said.
Senior officials in the districts said that there were some troubles during the nomination, but these were restricted to some particular areas that have a tradition of violence.
“The troubles were restricted to areas like Bhangar in South 24 Parganas, Basirhat in North 24 Parganas, Domkal and Raninagar in Murshidabad and Chopra in North Dinajpur. As the nomination process was largely peaceful in larger areas, the number of nominations have increased this year,” said a source.
A BJP leader also said that they could file nominations in more than 75 per cent seats as the nomination process was largely peaceful.
“Yes, we could not field candidates in about 25 per cent seats because of our organisational weakness in some minority areas. It is not that the Trinamul willfully allowed us to file nominations in more than 56,000 seats, but they did not have the strength to prevent us from filing nominations in the majority of the areas,” said a BJP leader.
The CPM and the Congress also said that the Trinamul tried to prevent their candidates wherever they could, but their candidates could file nominations in large areas only because people have resisted against the Trinamul’s strong-arm tactics this time.
Sources said that as the state poll panel had taken some measures like clamping prohibitory orders within 1km radius of the nomination centres had apparently worked in large areas.
